Roofing material



I June 21, 1932- w. H. FINKELDEY' ROOFING MATERIAL Filed April 5. '19302 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR MLL/A/V FM'KELOEY 5 WT I A TTORNEYS June 21,1932.

w. H. FINKELDEY ROOFING MATERIAL Filed A ril 5; 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WT-E INVENTOR 4M I BNKEL BY I I A TTORNE Y5 Patented June 21, 1932-UNITED STATES PATENT-OFFICE WILLIAM H. FINKELDEY, OF NEW ROCHELLE, NEWYORK, ASSIGNOR TO SINGMAS'I'ER & BREYER, IN C., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ACORPORATION OF NEW YORK 'noorme MATERIAL I Application filed April 5,1930. Serial No. 441,772.

This invention relates to an improvement in roofing materials, andparticularly to a composite metal-covered shingle or other roofing formwhich provides many advantages over the roofing materials now on themarket. I

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a compositemetalscovered shingle or other roofing form which will provide thecorrosion-resistant advantages of a metal roof and thelightweight,econom and insulating properties of cheaper roo ng materials.

Another object of the invention is to proporting portion covered with ametal coating of a thickness approximating the thickness of a sheet ofpaper and of suflicient flexibility to be wrapped around the supportinglayer and conform to its shape and irregularities of surface.

Another object of the invention is to provide a roofing form having thecorrosion'resistance to industrial atmospheres which is possessed bysuch metals as lead, copper, zinc, aluminum or high chromium alloysteels in which the metal used is of a-minimum thickness and inacondition known as dead soft anneal and is Wrapped upon a cushioningand insulating support which is of such a nature as to cushion andabsorb blows or walking upon the roof and permit the metal to yield tothe same without being ruptured.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear, from thefollowing description:

. It'h as long been recognized, particularly in industrial communitieswhere the atmosphere contains, a high percentage of corrosive gases.that the use of non-corrosive metallic roofing is highly desirable.Metallic roofings, such as copper, zinc, tin plate, etc., as heretoforeprovided, have, however, many disadvantages due to their weight,discoloration. cost of manufacture, difficulty of applying the same anddue to the fact that they have very low insulating roperties inthemselves and'oftendonot afl brd the desired de-.

gree of corrosion resistance. Lead, which vlde a composite shingle orother roofing form having a lightweight non-rigid sup has a hi hcorrosion resistance and is largely used for chemical equipment, is notordinarily used for roofing because of itslow tensile-strength andtendency to How on sloping surfaces, which makes it necessary toapply'it in relatively thick, heavy sheets, which are both expensive anddiflicult to apply, requiring special skill and training on the part'ofthe roofer.

I have found, however, that when used over a relatively firm, yetcushioning, supporting base, such as fiber board, produced from woodfiber, bagasse or. similar materials, or soft wooden shingles, it ispossible to use very thin lead or other metallic sheets to provide acorrosion-resistant and waterproof roofing material which is oflightweight, low cost and easy to handle. The lead, copper, zinc,aluminum or other metal, is preferably applied to the base material as ametal foil or sheet approximately three one-thousandths of an inch thickin a dead soft annealed state, so that it can be readily wrapped andfolded around the insulating base in much the same manner that wrap,ping paper is applied to a package, thereby shingle or other roofingform.

Lead and other metals of this thickness do not have sufficient strengthin themselves to withstandthe ordinary strains to which facilitatingmanufacture of the composite ever, metal of this thickness is appliedover v a supporting or cushioning layer which is firm, rigid andinflexible yet relativelyyieldable to indentation, such as provided byinsulite, celotex, andsimilar fiber boards, the metal, if in a conditionof dead soft anneal,

can flow or dent without rupture to permit the force of the blow orpressure to be absorbed by the relativelyyieldable' cushion ing orbacking, layer and can therefore withstand the force of blow or walkingalong the roof which it could not stand if applied; in 'such thin sheetsover a hard and relatively firm su port.

.Anot er -.advantage of applying the metal covering in a thin dead softsheet is that it can be made to conform by pressure to anyirregularities in the surface of the backing or supporting material, soas to provide shadows or other irregularities in the roofing surface andreduce glare and otherobjections which come from the metallic lustre ofa smooth metallic roof. The cushioning backing or supporting member ispreferably of lightweight and high insulating properties so as to reducethe transfer of heat through the roof and being soft is easily nailed orotherwise secured to the roof supporting structure in much the samemanner as 0rdi nary wooden shingles.

In the manufacture of my improved shingle or other roofing form, Iprefer to apply an adhesive material, preferably of an asphalticorbituminous nature, to' the fiber board or other support before the metalfoil is wrapped around the support to hold the support andthe metalcovering firmly together. The metal foil forms a protecting envelopearound the adhesive, preventing eX- posure of the adhesive to light andweather conditions, so that the adhesive does not dry out and harden andis maintained in a plastic condition, and in the event of a rupture inthe surface of the metal coating, can flow 1nto the hole and seal andwater-proof the same.

While various non-corrosive metals in thin sheet or foil condition maybe used for covering my supporting form, and in condition of dead softanneal may be wrapped around the support by production methods, such asthe use of a commercial package wrapping machine, my invention is ofparticular value in that it permits the use of lead, which is one of themost non-corrosive metals as a commercial roofing material, whereotherwise the use of lead would be impractical because of its lowtensile strength and the difficulty of handling and applying it insheets of suflicient thickness to Withstand the strains to which a roofis subjected. The wrapping of lead or other metals in a thin foil arounda lightweightcushioning or plastic supporting and insulating material,such as fiber board or soft wood, provides a shingle or roofingform'which is as easily handled and applied to the roof as an ordinaryWood shingle or roofing tile, and at the same time provides all theadvantages of a metal roof. Referring now to the drawings which are usedin an illustrative sense to indicate cer-' tain preferred formsofembodiment of my invention Figure 1 1s a plan view of a part of a roofshowing the arrangement of the shingles on the roof and the method ofattaching them by nailing to the roof structure beneath.

Figure 2 is a rear perspective view of one form of shingle embodying my,invention.

- Figure 3 is a vertical section on the line 33 through the shingle ofFigure 2.'

; blow Figure 7 is a horizontal sectional view upon the line 7-7 ofFigure 6.

In my preferred form of fiat tile or singlelike construction, therectangular shaped shingle base 10, composed of a good heat insulatingmaterial, as for example a molded wood fiber board, such as insulite orcelotex,

and coated preferably with a layer of adhesive 11, is partially wrappedin a thin lead or other metallic foil 12, which operation can beperformed economically in one of the commercial package wrappingmachines. The base material 10 should possess good insulating propertiesand should also be plastic or yielding to the extent that, if the thinmetal covering over said base be struck a blow, the base will yield orflow thus absorbing the energy of the'blow and allowing the metalcovering to dent without rupture which would notbe the case weretheibase constructed of hard unyielding material. It is this importantfeature of the base material which. 7

permits the successful use of such thinfnmtal coverings or foils oflead, zinc and aluminum which have no great structural strength in thethickness used by me. The base 10 may beof any desired thickness orshape for easy handling by the roofer and to secure "the proper heatinsulation and give the shingle the butt thickness or othercharacteristics desired from an architectural View point.

Other fiber or natural wood boards having proper heat insulating andcushioning or absorbing characteristics may be used as the basematerial. .The material used should possess sufficient strength andstiffness to function as a firm supporting structure for the thinmetallic covering.

The entire surface of this base material with the exception of one endis coated with the adhesive/11, preferably of an asphalti'c orbitumistic' nature in the form of water emulsions or dissolved inmineral solvents, such as gasoline or solvent naptha, by elther dipping,spraying or painting the fiber board base. The water emulsion has beenfound most satisfactory both because of its greater adhesive propertiesin cenienting the metal to its support andbecause it adheres to thesurface of the board and does not-penetrate as the mineral solventsdo;-however, other suitable adhesive materials may be used, paredgesurface at one end-of the shingle is left uncoated withthe adhesive inorder to permit the ready escape of water vapor or volatile solventsabsorbed b the porous fiber board base and which mig t otherwise besealed in the interior of the base material by the metallic covering andthe water-proof nature of the adhesive and might cause blistering orreduce the heat insulating value of the base. After the adhesive appliedeither to the base or the metallic covering has partially dried-and itssurface is still tacky, the metallic sheathing or covering 12 consistingpreferably of a single sheet is wrapped or folded around the basematerial as indicated in Figures 2 and 3 and then brought into firmcontact with the adhesive by applying pressure to the several surfaceswhich will'firmly secure the sheet metal to the baseboard. It

is'usually found that the adhesion between metal and thebase board isgreater than the .cohesion between the constituents of the base boardmaterial.

In my preferred form of construction, Figure 2, the metal does notextend entirely across the back of the shingle as this is not necessaryin most cases to give the desired protectionagainst the weather and: anecon-.

omy in the quantity ,of metal used is thereby efi'ected although I maycover the entire-back if desired. .A suitable pattern of the thin sheetmetal covering. is shown in Figure 5 although it will be understood thatin quantity production ordinary rectangular sheets,v

which may be cut from rolls of lead foil may be used. In applying thiscover to the base material, the flat. surface 20 is first placed overone face of the base 10. The flaps 21a are then folded around the longedges of the base and partially over the underneath or back surface asshownin Figure 2. The end;

tabs 21?) are then folded under the bottom edge and pressed intoposition. The end flap 210 is Wrapped over the end bending the metal atthe-points indicated by the dotted lines so that the flaps 21d arefolded in and are in contact with the bottom edge of the shingle. In itsfinal position the flap 21a partially covers the underside asshown inFigure 2. All surfaces of the thin metal sheath are brought intointimate contact with the adhesive by applying pressure at appropriatesteps during the wrapping operation.

In my preferred form of shingle construction I use, as the thin metalliccovering,

rolled sheet or strip lead approximately three one-thousandths (3/1000)of an inch thick although I may use greater or less thickness of lead orother metals if in a condition of dead soft anneal without departingfrom the spirit of my invention. Lead of this thickness can'be' readilyfolded and bent so that it is adaptable to use in automatic 1 'ng ittothe t terial if it were applied in the usual manner by fastening thesame "to the roof structure with nails or clips or similar devices sinceit obviously would not possess sufiicient structural strength towithstand the handling during application without tearing or puncturingand is too thin for ordinary commer-' cial soldering While I prefer tocover the'shingle or other fooelling form with thin rolled strip orsheet ea (3/1000)- ofan inch thick, I do not wish to be limited to theuse of this metal alone as it is obvious that other thin rolled metalsor foils, such as zinc, aluminum, copper, etc., of similar thicknesscould be used; In place of flat, smooth roofing elements, curved formssimulating curved tile or flat elements having embossed, raised orroughened surfaces could also be manufactured according to my method bypre-forming the base material and embodying suitable methods of foldingthe metallic covering so as to snugly fit the surface of the roofingelements and attaching the same by the use of a proper adhesive aspreviously described. The different styles of curvedroofing tiles nowbeing manufactured approximately three one-thousandthsin ceramicmaterials, such as clay or terra- ,wire staples 23 or by soldering orlock seaming depending upon the character of the inetallic coveringused. In this type of construction, no adhesive need be used over thesurface of the fiber board base but after ap-. plying'the thin andductile sheet metal covering the latter would be pressed into. closecontact with the rough irregular surface of the fiber board base bysubjecting the assembled and covered shingle to pressure. The thinductile metallic covering would deform without rupturing sufficiently topermit forc-' ing the metal more or less into the small interstices ofthe fiber or base which may be specially roughened in manufacture forthis purpose, thus securing a-type of metallic adhesion to the same. Thepattern used for the covering metal in Figures 7 and 8 could berectangular, permitting the foil to be fed into the wrapping machinefrom a roll and cut off in proper lengths without necessitating pattern.

WVhen the shingles of this type are secured to the roof, they are laidin the usual overlapping relation with the lower portion of each shingleexposed to the weather as indicated in Figure 1 so that the shingles ontop cover the joints of the shingle below and prevent water from seepingthrough between them. Depending upon the size of the shingle, variousamounts of each shingle may be left exposed to the weather but in anycase the final roof surface will be entirely metal covered. The shinglesare easily attached to the roof by nailing in the usual manner asindicated flt-24 and the nail holes in each row of shingles are coveredby overlapping shingles of the next course of shingles above it. It isnot necessary to lay such shingles on a special roofing support otherthan that normally used for wood shingles, nor is it necessary topreviously punch or drill the shingles before applying.

It is obvious that a structure of this type with the various elementsoverlapping will give a roof covering of high heat insulating propertiesdue to the multiple thickness of the insulating fiber board.Furthermore, this type of roof covering is extremely light as comparedto slate, ceramic tile or other forms of metallic roof covering havingequivalent heat insulating and corrosion resisting properties.

WVhile I have described certain specific emproof and adhesive bondingmaterial between said body part and said cover.

4. A roofing element, as defined in claim 3, the adhesive bondingmaterial of which is retained in a condition to flow into and sealruptures in the metal covering.

5. As an article of manufacture a roofing form comprising a supportingbase material substantially inflexible and firm yetpossessing'sufficient' cushioning or yielding properties to enable ittodeform under locally applied loads, such as a blow, and a dead softductile metal covering wrapped there around and conforming thereto. 6. Aroofing element of the character described. consisting of a rigid,inflexible, rough surfaced base member of a cellulosic fiber board and alead covering of a foil like thickness secured thereto and conforming tothe roughness of the surface thereof, substan tially as described.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature to this specification.

WM. H. FINKELDEY.

bodiments of my invention in considerable detail in order that theinvention may be fully understood, it will be obvious that my inventionis not confined to the details described, and that variousmodificationsand changes can be made therein without departing from thespirit of my invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. 'Aroofing element of the character described comprising a base memberformed of fiber board of rigid, inflexible, heat insulating characterbut .compressible and relatively .yieldable to indentation and a weatherproof protective covering of dead soft ductile corrosion resisting metalfoil whereby blows on the covering sheet are absorbed by said base,permitting the covering sheet to flow and dent through a substantialdistance Without rupture. I

2. A roofing element as defined in claim 1, the thickness of the metalfoil of which approximates 3/1000 of an inch.

3. A roofing element of the character described consisting of a basemember of relatively rigid inflexible but compressible supportingmaterial formed of cellulose fiber practically free from binder, a thinrolled metal covering too weak to make a satisfactory roof withoutsupport and too thin for commercial soldering partially enclosing andsupported by said base member and a water-

